Ella

I get home from school and make a beeline for my room, where I throw myself on the bed and curl up on my side. I just want to pretend that this entire day from hell never happened. Every time I think I can’t feel any more humiliated, the jerks at Astor Park Prep prove me wrong.

I won’t cry, though. Nope. Not shedding a single tear. I’m not giving them that kind of power over me.

Still, speech class sucked on a whole new level. The slurs against my mom were almost too much for me to handle. I can’t believe the teacher stood there like a dummy for five minutes before shutting the class down.

Maybe I should’ve gone over to Val’s like she’d wanted me to. We could’ve sat on her bed eating ice cream and gossiping about her new crush, which suddenly sounds a lot better than sulking in my room all night.

Plus, I wouldn’t be tensing up every time I hear footsteps in the hall. I can’t believe I kissed Reed the other night. No, I more than kissed him. He had my pants down and his hands on my butt. Who knows how much further I would have let him go if the whole baby thing hadn’t popped up between us.

What if he’s actually the father of Brooke’s baby? How can I ever live in the same house as Reed and Brooke and their secret baby that poor Callum will be unknowingly raising as his own?

God. When did my life become such a soap opera?

I squeeze my face tightly between both my palms until I can feel my teeth press against my cheek. That pain doesn’t make the one in my heart go away. I…miss Reed. I’m angry at myself for it, but I can’t stop it, either. All that stuff I told him about how I thought he saw me…I still feel that way. Reed fixes those intense blue eyes on me, and it’s like he can see into my soul. He sees past the tough front I hide behind. He sees my fears and my vulnerability and he doesn’t judge me for it.

And I honestly believed I could see him, too. Was I imagining it? Those moments of laughter where we both let our guards down, that raw look in his eyes when he told me he wished he could be worthy, the peaceful sensation that washed over me when we fell asleep together…

Was it all in my imagination?

I grab my math book out of my backpack and force myself to concentrate. Afterward, I treat myself by watching two mindless episodes of The Bachelor, but it’s no fun when Val isn’t sitting beside me making wisecracks about the contestants.

“Ella.” Callum’s voice sounds from the hall, followed by a sharp knock on my door. “Dinner’s ready. You need to come down.”

“I’m not hungry,” I call back.

“Come down,” he repeats. “We have guests.”

I frown at the door. Callum’s not usually super parental with me, but right now, his tone is stern and fatherly.

“We’re eating on the patio,” he adds, and then I hear him knocking on other doors and gathering the troops. He’s personally collecting each one of us, and he sounds a bit…worried.

I sit up warily, wondering who our “guests” are. Brooke, obviously, because that witch has been over almost every night since she and Callum dropped their baby bomb.

But who else? As far as I know, Callum’s only friend was Steve, and he’s dead.

Sighing, I heave myself off the mattress and quickly change out of my school uniform into something more dinner appropriate. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to go shopping, so I’m stuck wearing one of the dresses from my shopping spree with Brooke.

I walk into the hall at the same time Reed and Easton are leaving their rooms. I ignore them both and they ignore each other and it’s a silent, stony trudge down the stairs.

When we step onto the patio, I immediately understand why Callum was worried. We have two dinner guests: Brooke…and Dinah O’Halloran.

Beside me, Reed’s entire body stiffens. His blue eyes shift from one blonde bitch to the other.

“What’s the occasion?” he asks coolly.

Brooke offers us a broad smile. “Celebrating the engagement, silly!” She flips her hair over her shoulder. “Unofficially, of course, because there’ll be a proper engagement party once we get the details squared away. Somewhere decadent, like the Palace or maybe the King Edward? What do you think, Dinah? Do we want a modern venue, or someplace more distinguished?”

Dinah lifts her nose in distaste. “The King Edward Hotel has lost its appeal, Brookie. It used to be far more exclusive, but now that they’ve reduced their rates, the clientele is much lower class.”

Callum glances at me and the boys. “Sit,” he commands. “You’re being rude.”

I scan the available seats. Brooke and Dinah are on either side of Callum, while Sawyer and Sebastian—both wearing sullen expressions—lucked out with seats on the opposite end of the table.

Reed and Easton bypass the empty chairs near the women and flop down beside the twins. This leaves me with two not so appealing options, but I decide Dinah is the lesser of two bitches and reluctantly take the seat next to hers.

I get situated just as Gideon stalks through the French doors. “Evening,” he mutters.

Callum nods in approval. “I’m glad you were able to make it, Gid.” There’s an edge in his voice.

Gideon’s tone is even sharper. “Because you really left me much of a choice, right, Dad?” His jaw ticks when he realizes the only available seat is next to Brooke. His future stepmother.

She pats the chair. “Come sit, darling. Let me pour you a glass of wine.”

“I’ll have water,” he says tightly.

An awkward silence falls over the table once we’re all settled. Every single Royal boy is sporting a deep scowl. Callum watches them, looking disappointed.

What did he expect, though? His sons have barely spoken to him since the baby announcement. I’ve seen the twins cringe every time Brooke flashes her shiny diamond around. Easton’s drunk more often than he’s sober. Gideon apparently needs to be bullied into coming home. And Reed slept with Callum’s girlfriend two or three or a hundred times.

So yeah. Callum’s out of his mind if he thinks this big, happy family dinner will be anything other than a total disaster.

“Thank you so much for inviting me tonight,” Dinah chirps to Callum. “It’s been ages since I visited the Royal palace.”

The bite to her words reveals exactly how she feels about the lack of invitations rolling her way. She looks beautiful tonight, despite the venom in her green eyes. Her golden hair is swept up, and two diamond earrings dangle from her earlobes. She’s wearing a white dress with a deep-cut V that shows off both her tan and her cleavage.